Positioning device



July 22, 1969 HuYvAER-r ET AL 3,456,323

POSITIONING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 12, 1966 IN WIN/0R3ROBERT H. HUYVA E2 T A2 THUE A. 5 TE I NBEUNNE 2 ENT July 22, 1969 H, UYET AL 3,456,323

POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Dec. 12, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 22, 1 969R. H. HUYVAERT ET AL POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Dec. 12, 1966 4Sheets-Sheet 4 LEAD OFF DIE I. l1\"I0RS EOBEET H. HUYVAEET A2 77 912 A.STEINBE UNNEE AGENT United States Patent U.S. Cl. 29-200 7 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pressurized fluid operated piston havingrollers attached thereto which are adapted to be urged into engagementwith a longitudinally extending curved edge of a sheet metal strip toforcibly position the sheet metal strip relative to a die adapted toperform a stamping operation thereon.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use in positioning theserpentine slit sheet metal relative to stamping dies performing formingoperations thereon set forth in Patent No. 3,388,582 issued June 18,1968, in the name of Alfred Wesstrom et a1. (common assignee).

It is an object of the present invention to provide a positioning devicefor accurately and positively positioning a continuous strip ofirregularly shaped metal relative to a stamping die as the strip ofmetal passes therethrough.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a positioningdevice for accurately and positively actuating a workpiece to apredetermined position relative to apparatus performing a work operationthereon.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 represents a schematic view of a portion of a press embodyingthe present invention;

FIGURE 2 represents an enlarged front view of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 represents a top view of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 represents a side view of the present invention; and

FIGURE 5 represents a side view of a feed roller mechanism of FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1, numeral 20 designates a bed of conventionalstamping press. A plurality of consecutive dies including lead off die22 are arranged on bed 20 to receive and progressively stamp circularblanks or the like from a continuous strip of sheet metal 24 suppliedfrom a roll, not shown. The sheet metal 24 is provided with longitudinalsepentine side portions 26 and 28, the radius of curvature of which issubstantially equivalent to that of circular blanks 30 shown in dashedoutline which may be stamped therefrom in fiat form or upset to a.desired form and then severed, as desired. Reference is made to saidPatent No. 3,388,582 for further details of such stamping operation.

The continuous strip of metal 24 is advanced through the press byconventional feed roller mechanism which includes upper and lowerrollers, 32 and 34, respectively, suitably arranged at each end of bed20 and rotatably driven by suitable power means, not shown. The lowerrollers '34 are mounted for rotation in suitable bearing means, notshown, supported by bed 20. Each upper roller 34 is mounted for movementaway from the as sociated lower roller 32 to thereby release the stripof metal 24 passing therebetween as will be described hereinafter. Theapparatus for actuating the upper rollers 34 may take variousconventional arrangements and is shown schematically as including alever 36 provided with suit- 3,456,323 Patented July 22, 1969 ice ablebearing means 38 at one end thereof to which the roller 34 is mountedfor rotation. The opposite end of lever 36 is pivotally connected to anarm 40 which, in turn, is connected to a piston 42 slidably carried in acylinder 44. The cylinder 44 is pivotally connected at one end to afixed support 46 and is provided with fluid transmitting conduits 48 and50 connected thereto on opposite sides of piston 42 and ports 52 and 54,respectively, conventional flow controlling valve mechanism generallyindicated by 56. The valve mechanism 56 is provided with a supply port58 connected via conduit 60 to receive pressurized fluid from the outletof a suitable source 62 and a return port 64 connected via conduit 66 tothe relatively low pressure inlet to the source 62. The lever 36 ispivotally mounted to fixed support 68 carried by bed 20. Only one feedroller mechanism is shown in FIGURE 5; however, it will be understoodthat the two feed roller mechanisms at opposite ends of the press bedare identical in structure and operation.

It is essential that the continuous strip of metal 24 be accuratelypositioned relative to the dies performing stamping operations therein.The center of curvature of convex portions 70 of strip 24 must beaccurately located so as to be collinear with the center of theassociated die engageable therewith. To this end, the present inventionprovides oppositely disposed positioning devices 72 and 74 adjacentstrip 24 and operative to forcibly engage the adjacent convex portions70 and urge the strip 24 longitudinally to the proper position relativeto lead off die 22.

Each positioning device includes a base 76 mounted on lead off die 22and secured in position relative thereto by a key 78 preferably locatedwith its longitudinal axis at a right angle to longitudinal axis AA ofstrip 24 and passing through central axis B of lead off die 22. Aplurality of bolts 80 extend through suitable openings in base 76 intothreaded engagement with die 22 to thereby fixedly secure base 76 inposition relative to die 22 when tightened. An inverted U-shaped support82 is fixedly secured to base 76 by any suitable means such as welds. Agroove 86 in the base of U-shaped support 82 is adapted to receive asupport arm 88 fixedly secured in position on support 82 by any suitablemeans such as welds 90. Side brackets 92 abut support arm 88 and support82 are fixedly secured thereto by suitable fastening means such as welds94. A groove 96 formed in base 76 is adapted to receive a chamberedblock 98 Which is secured in position therein by bolts 100 which extendthrough base 76 into threaded engagement with block 98. The block 98defines a circular chamber 102 closed at one end by a cap 104 which isfixedly secured to block 98 by a plurality of bolts 106 extendingtherethrough into threaded engagement with block 98. An O-ring 108suitably secured between cap 104 and block 98 serves as a seal againstfluid leakage. A piston 110 slidably carried in chamber 102 is attachedto a stern 112 having a threaded end which extends through piston 110into threaded engagement with a lock nut 114 thereby uniting piston 110and stem 112. The stem 112 extends through an opening 116 in one end ofblock 98 which opening 116 is provided with a sleeve bearing 118 and asuitable fluid pressure seal generally indicated by 120 secured inopening 116 by suitable means such as a snap ring 122. Fluid ports 124and 126 in block 98 communicate with chamber 102 on opposite sides ofpiston 110. Conduits 128 and 130 connect ports 124 and 126,respectively, to conduits 48 and 50.

A shaft 132 extends through an opening 134 in support arm 88 and isfixedly secured in position therein by a set screw 136 threadedlyengaged with arm 88.

Vertically extending support arms 138 and 140 are mounted for pivotalmovement on opposite ends of shaft 132 and are each provided with anassociated opening 142 adapted to receive the outer race of a bearing144, the inner race of which bearing 144 is mounted on shaft 132. A snapring 146 suitably secured in each of the openings 142 holds bearing 144in position in opening 142.

The free ends of support arms 138 and 140 are fixedly secured in spacedapart relationship to a U-shaped member 148 by any suitable fasteningmeans such as welds 150. Side brackets 152 are fixedly secured to arms138, 140 and member 148 by suitable fastening means such as welds 154.The opening in the U-shaped member 148 permits member 148 to swing fromthe position shown in FIGURE 4 toward fixed block 98 without engagingthe latter as will be described hereinafter. A member 156 havingrecesses 158 and 160 formed in opposite end portions thereof is securedto U-shaped member 148 by a plurality of bolts 162, only one of which isvisible in FIGURE 4, which extend therethrongh into threaded engagementwith U-shaped member 148. A locating pin 164 suitably secured to member156 is received by an opening 166 in member 148 thereby aiding in fixingthe relative positions of members 148 and 156. Like U-shaped member 148,member 156 is provided with a cut out portion to permit swingingmovement of member 156 toward block 98. The lower surface of member 156is beveled as at 168 to permit member 156 to clear base 76. Rollers 176and 172 carried in recesses 158 and 160, respectively are mounted forrotation on an associated bearing 174 which, in turn, is carried by apin 176 supported at opposite ends in openings 178 and 180 in members148 and 156, respectively. The axes of rotation of rollers 170 and 172as defined by associated pins 176 are parallel and equally spaced fromthe longitudinal axis of the key 78. A bearing plate 182 suitablysecured to member 156 by fastening means such as screw 184 is engaged bythe end of stem 112.

An adjustable stop member 186 threadedly engaged with a bracket 188 isadapted to engage arm 140 thereby limiting the arcuate movement of arm140 and thus attached arm 138 and members 148 and 156 as well as rollers170 and 172. The bracket 188 is fixedly secured to support arm 88 bysuitable fastening means such as bolts 190. A lock nut 191 threadedlyengaged with stop member 186 serves to fix the position thereof.Openings 192 and 194 in arm 138 and arm 88, respectively are adapted toreceive a pin, not shown, to thereby hold arms 138 and 140 in aretracted position whereby rollers are out of engagement with convexportions 70 of metal strip 24.

The valve mechanism 56 which controls pressnrizations of pistons 110 and42 is connected to one end of an arm 196, the opposite end of which isprovided with a slot 198 adapted to receive a pin 200 mountedeccentrically on a shaft 202. The shaft 202 is mounted for rotation onpress supports generally indicated by 284 and is adapted to rotate insynchronism with the ram, not shown, of the press in a conventionalmanner. The movement of valve mechanism 56 is therefore coordinated withthe up and down movement of the press ram as will be describedhereinafter.

Operation It will be assumed that the metal strip 24 is being advancedin its direction of feed by rollers 32 and 34 which frictionally engagethe metal strip 24 to urge the same longitudinally. The strip 24 isguided laterally through the dies by conventional oppositely disposedguides generally indicated by 286 which are mounted on the dies inspaced apart relationship and engage the convex portions of the strip 24to position the strip 24 laterally with respect to the center of thedies.

As the metal strip 24 passes between positioning devices 72 and 74, theassociated rollers 170 and 172 thereof ride against the respective edges28, 26 of strip 24 and follow the outline thereof causing the supportarms 138 and 146) and attached rollers 170 and 172 to swing accordinglyaway from and toward lead off die 22 depending upon the rise and fall,respectively, in contour of the serpentine edge. The stop member 186 isengaged by arm as the concave portion of strip 24 passes betweenpositioning devices 72 and 74 thereby limiting the swinging movement ofrollers 179 and 172 toward lead off die 22.

As the shaft 262 rotates with the ram of the press starting its downwardstroke the metal strip 24 is positioned approximately as shown in FIGURE1 and the pin 200 of shaft 202 slides along slot 198 into engagementwith the upper end thereof whereupon arm 196 is displaced causingmovement of valve mechanism 56 accordingly. The valve mechanism 56establishes communication between ports 58 and 52 as well as ports 54and 64. The resulting flow of pressurized fluid to conduit 48 passes tocylinders 44 of the feed roller mechanisms where the pistons 42 arepressurized causing levers 36 to pivot thereby displacing upper rollers32 away from strip 24 to release the latter. The opposing sides ofpistons 42 are vented to relatively low drain pressure via passage 50leading to port 54 of valve mechanism 56.

Simultaneously with pressurization of piston 42, pressurized fluidpasses from conduit 48 via conduits 128 to pistons 110 pressurizing thesame thereby urging associated stems 112 against respective bearingplates 182. Assuming an over travel condition of the metal strip 24 asindicated by the dashed outline of the convex portions 70 adjacentpositioning devices 72 and 74, the rollers bear against the adjacentconvex portions 70 whereas the rollers 172 are out of engagement withthe convex portions 70. The force derived from piston 110 and imposedagainst bearing plate 182 is applied via roller 170 against therespective edge of convex portion 70 with the result that the metalstrip 24 is forcibly urged longitudinally to the position shown in solidoutline in FIGURE 1 whereby both rollers 170 and 172 contact the convexportion 70 thereby centering the convex portions 70 relative to center Bof the lead ofi die 22 under the influence of substantially equal andopposite forces in both longitudinal and transverse directions.

The positioning of the metal strip 24 in the abovementioned manner isaccomplished during the downward stroke of the ram of the press, notshown. The rollers 170 and 172 continue to press against adjacent convexportion 70 holding the same centered with respect to lead off die 22 asthe downward stroke of the ram is completed thereby performing thedesired stamping operation on strip 24. As the ram of the press beginsits upward stroke, the shaft 202 has rotated accordingly causing pin 200to move into engagement with the lower end of slot 198 therebydisplacing arm 196 downwardly to actuate valve mechanism 56. The valvemechanism 56 moves accordingly to communicate port 58 with port 54 andport 52 with port 64. The resulting flow of pressure fluid throughpassage 50 to cylinders 44 in combination with the venting of cylinders44 on the opposite sides of pistons 42 to drain fluid pressure viapassage 50 results in pistons 44 moving to their retracted positions asshown in FIGURE 5 whereby levers 36 urge upper rollers 32 intoengagement with strip 24. The strip 24 advances accordingly therebydisplacing the convex portions 70 in order to consecutive dies for thedesired stamping operation. As succeeding convex portions 70 movebetween positioning devices 72 and 74 into position relative to lead offdie 22, the abovementioned positioning sequence performed by positioningdevices 72 and 74 is repeated. It will be understood that properpositioning of convex portions 70 relative to lead off die 22 results incorresponding control over the location of convex portions 70 relativeto the dies subsequent to lead olf die 22.

In the event that it is desired to utilize a strip of metal similar tostrip 24 but having a straight longitudinal edge and an oppositeserpentine longitudinal edge, it will be understood that only one of thepositioning devices 72 or 74 will be required. For instance, assumingthe edge of strip 24 adjacent to positioning device 74 to be straightinstead of serpentine, the positioning device 74 may be placed inretracted position by manually urging arms 138 and 140 counterclockwiseas viewed in FIGURE 4 to align openings 192 and 194 in arms 138 and 88,respectively, whereupon a pin, not shown, may be inserted therein tohold the arms 138 and 140 in the retracted position. Suitable shut offvalve means, not shown, may be provided in conduits 128 and 130 toprevent flow of pressurized fluid from conduits 48 and 50 to chamber 102of the disabled positioning device.

Various changes and modifications may be made by those persons skilledin the art without departing from the scope of applicants invention asdefined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. Positioning apparatus for use in positioning a continous strip ofmetal having at least one longitudinal serpentine edge relative to thedies of a ram operated stamping press provided with feed mechanism forurging the strip of sheet metal longitudinally across the dies, saidpositioning apparatus comprising:

means engageable with the serpentine edge of the strip of metal andfreely movable toward and away from the longitudinal axis of the stripof metal in response to the alternating concave and convex portions ofthe serpentine edge;

force producing means operatively connected to said means for actuatingthe same against the longitudinal serpentine edge of the strip of metal;and

control means operatively connected to the ram of the press, the feedmechanism and said force producing means for actuating said feedmechanism out of engagement with the strip of metal and energizing saidforce producing means at a predetermined position of the ram;

said first named means being operable in response to said forceproducing means to forcibly urge the strip of metal longitudinally tothereby establish equal and opposite longitudinally directed forcesthereagainst and a corresponding predetermined position of the curvededge adjacent said first named means relative to a die performing astamping operation thereon.

2. Positioning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said meansengageable with the serpentine edge of the metal strip includes:

a pair of spaced apart roller members rotatable in a plane substantiallyparallel to the strip of metal and adapted to roll along the serpentineedge of the strip of metal;

movable support means connected to support said pair of rollers in fixedspaced apart relationship and responsive to said force producing meansto thereby urge said pair of rollers against the curved edge of themetal strip and actuate the strip of metal longitudinally in onedirection or the other depending upon the relative degree of engagementof one of said roller members with respect to the other with the curvededge of the metal strip.

3. Positioning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said meansengageable with the serpentine edge of the metal strip includes:

a pair of roller members mounted for rotation in fixed spaced apartrelationship and adapted to roll along the serpentine edge of the stripof metal;

support means connected to support said roller members in fixed spacedapart relationship and mounted for pivotal movement on a fixed supportwhereby said roller members are freely supported for pivotal movementabout a fixed axis; and

fixed stop means engageable with said support means for limiting thepivotal movement thereof and thus said roller members toward thelongitudinal axis of the strip of metal as said concave portions movepast said roller members.

4. Positioning apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said forceproducing means includes;

a source of fluid under pressure;

conduit means connecting said fluid pressure responsive means to saidfluid pressure source;

valve means operatively connected to said conduit means and actuated bythe ram of the stamping press for controlling fluid flow through saidconduit means in response to the movement of the ram; and

force transmitting means operatively connecting said fluid pressureresponsive means and said support means.

5. Positioning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the strip ofmetal is provided with longitudinal serpentine edges on both extremitiesthereof and said positioning apparatus further includes:

a pair of said means engageable with the serpentine edge of the strip ofmetal oppositely disposed and engageable with their respectiveserpentine edge;

a pair of said force producing means operatively connected to said pairof means engageable with the serpentine edges of the strip of metal;

said control means being operatively connected to said pair of forceproducing means for energizing the same simultaneously.

6. Positioning apparatus as claimed in claim 3 and further including:

means engageable with said support means and said fixed support forsecuring said support means in fixed position out of engagement withsaid serpentine edge.

7. Positioning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said first named means is engageable with the convex portion of theserpentine edge to forcibly urge the same in position so that the axisof curvature of the convex portion is collinear with the center of thedie associated therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,579,657 4/1926 Perrault 22691 X2,500,204 3/1950 Ronay 29--200 3,060,991 10/1962 Chausson 29-2083,126,044 3/1964 Riso 72-428 3,259,964 7/1966 Engel 29-200 3,388,5826/1968 Wesstrom et al. 72335 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl.X.R.

